The Words, April 2015

Mac English Shines at ACTC Conference

Josh Weiner ’16

On Friday, March 6th, five Macalester students took a break from their day-to-day grind for a trip down Summit Avenue to the University of St. Thomas. The occasion was the annual Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities (ACTC) English Majors conference. Hamline, Augsburg, St. Thomas, St. Katherine’s, and Macalester all sent delegations. The five Macalester students – Rachel Wilson ’17, Ava Bindas ’17, Sam Faulkner ’15, Ollie Schminkey ’16, and Nicholas Egersdorf ’18 – spent the day listening to talks, leading discussions, and meeting English majors from around the Twin Cities.

Each paper was written for a Macalester English class. Rachel Wilson ’17, for example, originally wrote her paper “Colonial Understandings of Home in Nineteenth Century British Literature” for one of Professor Lesley Goodman’s classes. Rachel revised her paper before presenting it at the British Literature panel. Sam Faulkner ’15 presented a paper he originally wrote for Professor Casey Jarrin’s class, entitled “Branches Left Quivering: Imagining the Phantom Menace in Vietnam.” Faulkner, a Media and Cultural Studies major, fittingly participated in the Media & Theory session.

Each student presented a paper at one of four sessions: in British Literature, American Literature, World Literature, or Media & Theory. A fifth session, for creative writing projects, was held in the early evening. Ollie Schminkey presented a paper in the “World” Literature category titled “The Ghosts of Slavery: Depictions of Haunting in Crafts and Chesnutt.” Ava Bindas ’17 presented a character study of Joanna Burden, from William Faulkner’s novel Light in August. “I really loved the paper I was asked to present,” said Bindas.

In addition to presenting their papers and listening to other students’ presentations, each student participated in a Q&A panel discussion with the other session participants. “The other presenters,” Faulkner said, “were all very intelligent and prepared.” Bindas also enjoyed interacting with students from other schools. “Being surrounded by other people who are excited about English was a wonderful way to spend a day,” said Bindas. Still, she couldn’t help bragging a bit about the Macalester delegation: “The other students from Mac gave consistently great presentations and were composed and insightful in their responses to questions.” She added, “I enjoyed the sense of camaraderie with my Mac peers and left proud of my school.”

Macalester is hosting the ACTC Conference in 2016, and English Department Coordinator Jan Beebe says the department hopes to carry off a succesful event. Exploring a new format and changes to make the conference better attended are both possibilities, she says.